The Ultimate Christmas Present
by I'mcalledZorro
Summary: Daniel meets an old girlfriend and gets a special christmas present.
1. The College Years

_This is my very first stargate story. I hope everybody enjoys it. I have the whole story written out, but still have to type it into my laptop and get someone to proof it and the edit it then publish it. So hopefuly I will put up a chaper a week. Reviews would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and enjoy!_

The Ultimate Christmas Present

Juliette Burns was so bored. "Who needs philosophy," she thought. "The only person in this whole, stupid, book that seems sane and makes half a grain of sense is Kilkenguard." Plus, she had it on good authority that Freud was a crackpot, literally. As Juliette looked around the class she noticed that half the class was asleep and the teacher even seemed tired. She noticed there only seemed to be two people who were paying attention. "Nerds, she thought." And then went back to the story she was currently working on.

As Juliette tried to concentrate this little group behind her refused to shut-up. After a few minutes of this, she hoped that they would realize they were in the middle of class not in their dorm; when that did not happen she turned around and said "Will ya'll shut-up!" The group seemed to think this was funny and started laughing, which finally caught the teacher's attention. She walked over to them asking, "Is there a problem here?" This seemed to work and the idiots were quiet.

As soon as class ended Juliette put her books in her backpack and left. A guy with saggy light brown hair and glasses that hid his beautiful blue eyes that she recognized from class come up to her stuck out his hand and said,

"Hi, I'm Daniel Jackson."

Juliette did not know what to make of this guy. So she just decided to do what he did, "Juliette Burns" she said. After they shook hands and saw they were both headed in the same direction Daniel picked up the conversation.

"Thanks for telling those guys to be quiet. I was a few minutes away from doing that my self."

Juliette laughed. "I'm glad I could be of assistance. The main reason I told them off was because they were interfering with my writing."

"Writing?"

"Yeah, like most of the class I find this highly boring, but instead of sleeping I write, plus it looks like I am taking notes."

Daniel was intrigued, "So what do you write about? Aliens, Egyptians, college?"

"Three strikes and you're out Daniel. I like to write Westerns, but I HATE the movies. They are always boring."

Daniel laughed at this, "You are a strange one Juliette, but coming from me that is a compliment."

As Daniel and Juliette walked they began to discover they were similar in several ways; neither had a life. Daniel studied when not in class and Juliette still lived at home. So they both were out of contact with normal college life.

As time wore on they became best friends then boy and girlfriend. At last their senior year arrived and they had to decide what to do. Daniel wanted Juliette to marry him, but he was not sure how she felt about that. The day before graduation Daniel took Juliette out on a romantic picnic she could not stand it any longer.

"Daniel, what are you so antsy about?"

That caught him off guard, he wanted to be smooth and romantic, "Oh well" he thought, here I go.

"Juliette, will you marry me?"

She look startled, but only for a second. She figured he would ask. Juliette took a deep breath and said, "Danny we need to talk."

As soon as he heard these words he knew it was trouble, and that her answer was no.

Juliette took a breath, "I want to marry you, I do, but does it make much sense? You are still going to be in college for a number of years. I have my journalism degree and an offer from two or three magazines that requires extensive traveling. Even after you get all your various degrees, you will have to start traveling and working long hours. We would never see each other, oh, what if we had children, what then? I have been thinking about all of this for the past month, and while my heart is telling me yes, my brain is saying no. So I have to say no, but I will love you forever and always."

At seeing the saddened look on Daniel's face she quickly added, "Daniel, I love you and always will. Maybe when we are older the fates will throw us together again."

The picnic was torture for Daniel, after that, at least till they were about to leave. Juliette turned around and gave him a long kiss. One thing then led to another.

The next day as they were going to get in line for the graduation ceremony Daniel gave Juliette a final kiss.

"So Daniel, I guess this is goodbye." Juliette said with a catch in her voice.

"I guess so."

As Juliette started to cry she gave him one last hug and whispered in his ear, "I will love you forever." Then she turned and ran.


	2. The Wal Mart Experience

Daniel both loved and hated Christmas. He loathed buying presents and having to go to the crowded stores, but loved visiting friends, giving presents, and of course receiving them. He had decided to do his shopping at Wal-Mart this year, he figured it would be a one stop shop, plus he thought if he went at like 2 in the morning nobody would be there. As he looked over his list it was annoyingly blank.

Jack – Simpsons DVD

Sam –

Teal'c –

Mitchell –

Landry –

Well he figured at least two were taken care of: Vala was sort of an early Christmas present, but when he thought about it he felt bad, after all she could be dead or annoying the pants off some poor guy that was not him, oh well. He shrugged off the feeling.

As he guided his buggy down the electronics aisle he grabbed the DVDs for O'Neill. This was the easiest, all he had to do was ask Sam what Jack wanted and of course she had known.

"One down and only four, no wait, five more to go." He could not believe that he had almost forgotten Cassie. Sam would have killed him. As he was pushing the buggy waiting for inspiration to hit, it hit him like a bolt of lightning in front of the jewelry display. For Cassie he would get a locket and put a picture of Janet in it. He knew that Cassie was missing her mother terribly and maybe this would help.

As he placed the locket in the buggy he had an evil thought. Maybe he could get another locket for Sam and place a picture of Jack in it. "Nope," he thought, "She would kill me and then Jack would."

Inspiration struck again as he thought about Sam strangling him to death. A scarf would be good and also very practical. He saw a pretty blue scarf and decided to get it. He noticed a matching blue hat and decided to get that, too. "OK," he thought, "Another one bites the dust." That leaves Teal'c, Mitchell, and Gen. Landry.

Daniel decided to see if there were any new good books in. A book caught his eye "Five Places You Have to Visit in 50 States." "Hmmm," he thought, "Maybe Teal'c will like this. We could go see some of these places as a team, and maybe even invite Jack." So he threw it into the buggy. Daniel was tired of shopping. He did not understand how some people could enjoy shopping.

After roaming around the store for about 30 minutes trying to figure out what to get Mitchell and Landry he found himself back at the DVD aisle. "Oh, well, they are just going to have to enjoy whatever movie he picked up." When he got to the Sci-fi section he paused. He thought he remembered Mitchell saying something to Teal'c about some show, but he was not sure which one. He randomly picked two that looked interesting, "Andromeda" and "Farscape." After reading the back of "Andromeda" he sat it back down thinking, "That sounds so stupid, how could someone act on a show like that. This other show HAS to be better," so he threw it into the buggy.

For Landry he selected a show called "Everwood." Next year he swore he would just buy a stack of cards stick a $20 in it and be done with it. Now that he had all his presents. All he needed was wrapping paper, tape, and talent. He could translate thousands of year old text, but when it came to wrapping he was all thumbs.

Finally, with all his shopping over he headed to the only check-out open. Pausing for a second to look at the C.D display next to the check-out lane he picked one up. "Trans-Siberian Orchestra" it looked Christmassy, with a little kid and a Christmas tree in the snow, on the cover. He tossed it into the cart with the rest. He figured if he did not like it he could always give it to Sam, she would like it.

As Daniel placed his items on the conveyer belt he glanced at his cashier. She looked familiar, but he could not place her. After the buggy was empty Daniel moved up towards the cashier. This time he really saw her, and then he glanced at her name tag. Juliette it read. Juliette. Suddenly Daniel remembered his first years in college with her. He looked up staring. "Juliette?" He asked with a hint of uncertainty. She turned at the sound of her name, and recognized him too, "Daniel?"


	3. blast from the past

They stood just staring at each other for a few minutes before either one of them had the presence of mind to say something. Daniel broke the silence first.

"So how have you been?"

Juliette felt like saying I'm working at Wal-Mart at three o'clock in the morning, how do you think I'm doing, but she kept it to "Good, you?"

They just stood there in silence, neither one knowing what to say, so Juliette continued ringing up the items. After she was finished, Daniel pulled out his money, and having finally got his thoughts together tried to restart the conversation by asking,

"So how long have you lived here and what have you been doing in Colorado Springs?"

Juliette looked at him and thought, boy if you only knew. Instead she said, "About ten years. As for why I'm living here it's a long story, what about you?"

Daniel laughed, "Same thing for me. Weird, huh!" He took a deep breath. "Would you want to meet me later this week for coffee or something. Wait, you don't like coffee, or at least you didn't" he paused for a second, she nodded her confirmation and he continued, "So make that hot chocolate. "OK?"

She thought about that for a second then figured he had to find out sooner or later and sooner was better. "Sure, how about on the 23rd at Anna's Café?"

"That's great! How about we meet at 9:00? Hopefully the morning rush will have died down."

"Sounds good to me," replied Juliette.


	4. coffee & a Meeting

_Sorry about the delay then the really short chapter. You know how it goes, school and such. Thank all of you who are still reading this and special thanks to Trinitystargazer3 & Nighshae for reviewing. Please review. I want to know how you ,the important people, think. So please feel free to hit that button. Thanks again for reading! Have a nice day!_

Juliette arrived at the coffee house first. Just as Daniel had predicted the breakfast crowd had left. She got some hot chocolate and sat down to wait for Daniel. She did not have long to wait before Daniel came in. He walked over to the table and sat down.

"Been waiting long?" he asked.

"Not at all, in fact I just sat down," Juliette answered.

"Good, would you like something to eat?"

Juliette shook her head no.

"Well then if it is ok, I'm going to grab a cup of coffee."

"Sure, I promise not to run off," Juliette replied with a smile. Daniel started to pay for the coffee, then he saw that they had bear claws and remembering that they were Juliette's favorite, he ordered one for her, and one for himself. When Juliette saw that Daniel had brought her the pastry she smiled and thanked him. They sat in nervous silence for a bit then Juliette broke the silence.

"So what have you been up to in the past 16 years? I figured you would either be leading some big archeological dig or be teaching in some big name college."

Daniel did not know where to start. He wanted to be honest, but knew he could not. I might endanger the whole planet or even worse, her. So he decided to go with the much edited version.

"After receiving my degrees, I did go the academic path for a while till one of my ideas got me in trouble. I was offered another job that would require me to move, and having nothing left for me where I was, I decided to take the job. While I was there I met my wife. We were married for a few years, and then she was kidnapped. The next time I saw her she was a totally different person. She was later killed. Her kidnapping caused me to move here and now I am working on the base."

"Wow, that's sad Daniel. I am so sorry about your wife. I bet she was a wonderful person."

"Yes, she was. Enough about me, so now that I have told you my life's story it is your turn."

"Oh, where to begin; I had that magazine job a few months before …it became too much. I decided to move back down south where my mom lived. I got a job with a local paper, and stayed there for about four or five years then moved here. I have my own photography studio and do alright. I bet you are wondering why I was working at Wal-Mart." Daniel nodded; amazed that she could still read his mind.

"Every so often I work in the photo department and one of my friends needed the night off, so I took her shift and that about sums up the last 16 years."

As she finished her account Juliette glanced at her watch. It was later than she expected, and she had an appointment to keep.

"Well, Daniel I've got to run, but what are you doing on Christmas?"

"Nothing, I might spend Christmas morning with some friends, but after that nothing."

"Good, not that you don't have someone to spend it with, but that you are free. Maybe you could come over to my house about 12:00. I'll provide lunch. Plus, I have something that I need to tell you." As Juliette spoke she was writing down her address and directions. She then handed it to Daniel saying, "Please come."

Then she left. Daniel sat staring at the piece of paper she had handed to him. He stayed that way for a few minutes before leaving himself. He kept on hearing "I have something I need to tell you" echoing thought his head. Dang it, after all this time she could still get him to do what she asked.

SG-1's Christmas party was the next day so Daniel figured that he better go home and wrap the presents.


	5. Rocking around the Christmas Tree

Disclaimer: Unfortunatly I do not know any part of Stargate, but they would make a nice Christmas present!

As Daniel pulled in to Lt. Col. Samantha Carter's driveway he noticed only two cars there, one of which was Sam's car. "Great, second to arrive" he thought. "Oh well, someone has to be second." With that, Daniel got out, grabbed an armload of presents, and went to the front door. He was just about to ring the bell when the door flew open.

"Danny-boy, come in," came the exuberant greeting from Gen. Jack O'Neill.

"Hey, Jack nice to see you. Uh, could you help me with the presents? I left a few in the car."

"Sure, just put those under the tree in the living room. Sam's around here somewhere."

"And Jack, don't shake the presents."

"Dang"

With that Daniel went into the house. He had not taken three steps when he saw Sam. She had a sweatshirt with a funky looking Christmas tree on it. He must have made a face because Sam stated.

"I like my shirt. Plus, Mark's kids made it for their Aunt Sam. I think it's sweet."

"Well, in that case it looks very…festive. By the way am I early?"

At that Sam smiled, "Well yes. Jack figured I should tell you to come at least 30 minutes early, because you are usually about 30 minutes late to everything."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Daniel said snidely. Daniel then went to put the presents under the tree with O'Neill right behind him carrying the rest of his presents. All three then sat down in the comfortable living room. After a few moments of silence Jack said, " So what's up with you? Died recently?"

"No, Jack. I have been doing better since you left." Daniel paused for a while then, said "Ran into an old girlfriend the other day." After having said that Daniel could not figure out why. Oh, well.

Please tell me that this one is not a gou'ld too." Jack finally said after a long silence. Leave it to Jack to think of something funny to lighten the mood.

"No, Jack, at lease I don't think so. We're meeting again tomorrow for lunch. We've already met once. I guess we have to see of we still can be friends or something."

Jack starting to say something, but Daniel was saved by the door bell. The other guests were beginning to arrive. Everybody was having a great time eating, swapping gifts, and telling stories on each other, each one bigger than the last. Daniel, Jack, and Teal'c were staying the night at Sam's house. Just the old team for a few hours. Before everyone left, Sam had an announcement. Jack whistled to get everybody's attention, then Sam announced.

"I have some great news. Jack proposed to me earlier, and of course I said, yes!" Jack then stood up. "Now that Sam in not directly under my command, and the fact we have saved the world several times, the fraternizing rule no longer applies."

After he sat down the group all applauded and Cassie demanded to see the ring. After everyone left it was just SG-1. They talked about what had been going on in their lives for a while then everybody drifted off to their beds for the night, it had been a long day.


	6. the truth shall set you free

Juliette was nervous. It was 11:30 and Daniel was supposed to arrive at 12:00. She did not know if she could go through with this. Her stomach was tied in knots, and she felt light headed. "Deep breaths," she told her self, "deep breaths."

Just then the doorbell rang, cutting into her thoughts. She opened the door, and sure enough it was Daniel Jackson.

"Merry Christmas Daniel," Juliette greeted him.

"Thanks, you too."

"Come on into the kitchen. I'm sure you're hungry."

Daniel sat at the table while Juliette made them both a sandwich. They were about half way through the meal when Daniel asked, "What is it that you wanted to tell me?"

Juliette paused a second, then she looked straight at him and said, "Daniel, I want to tell you we –"

Juliette was interrupted by the front door slamming. A girl of about 16 came running in. She had long medium brown hair, and beautiful blue eyes. "Mom," she started, "I need a $10. I forgot to get Brittany a Christmas gift so I'm going to give her a $10."

As Juliette dug a $10 out of her purse the girl turned to Daniel and gave him a shy smile, and as soon as she had the money she was out the door.

"That whirlwind was my … our daughter, Danielle."

Daniel dropped his sandwich and nearly chocked on the bite he had taken.

"Daughter? How can I have a daughter?" He paused for a second clearly thinking about what he had just said, "Never mind, I know how"

Daniel sat in silence for a few minutes digesting the information he had just been told. He started to say something then stoped. He seemed to be trying to sort it all out before he spoke.

Finally in a very controlled voice he said, "Why didn't you tell me? I had a right to know I have a daughter."

"Well, the short answer is, I did not want to ruin your life."

"How could knowing I have a daughter possibly ruin my life."

"You remember when you asked me to marry you and I told you that I would just slow you down."

Daniel nodded.

"I know if I had told you after I found out I was pregnant you would have insisted that we get married, and then you would have tried to support us. If you had done that your academics would have suffered and you would not be where you are today. I wanted you to be all you can be and not be held back by something I could handle on my own."

Daniel seemed to accept this, then he asked, "Does she know who I am?"

"Sort of, her last name is Jackson, and I told her about you as she grew-up. I even showed her the pictures of us I have, but as far as a few minutes ago, I doubt that she knew."

Daniel was going to ask another question when his cell phone rang. After talking briefly he hung up.

"Juliette, I have to go. If it's OK, how about all of us meet Tuesday night at Pizza Hut and get to know each other a little better?"

"That sounds great! Pizza Hut is one of our favorites. Is about 6:00 OK with you?"

"Sure"

Daniel picked up his coat and started out the door.

"Daniel"

Upon hearing his name Daniel stopped and turned around to face Juliette.

"Thanks for being so cool about this. I know it is a shock and a lot to handle."

Daniel just smiled as he left. On his way to the SGC he thought about all he has just learned. When Daniel arrived at Stargate Command he went straight to General Landry's office where the rest of SG-1 had already gathered. Daniel took the seat beside Carter.

As Daniel sat down Gen. Landry started, "Nice of you to join us today, Dr. Jackson."

Daniel was still in a world of his own and just replied, "Sorry."

Landry continued with the meeting, "The inhabitants of P7X-762 contacted us a few minutes ago, and they have decided to open trade negotiations, but they want SG-1 to be there and are throwing a feast in your honor at 1900 hours. I suggest you get ready. Dismissed."


	7. McDonalds, McDonalds, KFC, & a Pizza Hut

Thank you to all you nice people who have reviewed. This is for ya'll!

Tuesday morning at 0800 SG-1 arrived back at the SGC after their mission on P7X-762. SG-1 went through the usual medical examination and debriefing then headed towards the locker room. General Landry had informed them they were off duty for a week.

Teal'c and Mitchell were a little ahead of Carter and Daniel. Carter turned to Daniel and asked, "What's going on? You haven't been you self lately. You just keep to yourself and are too quiet."

Daniel sighed; he guessed it was time to tell them. "Have Teal'c and Mitchell meet you in my office in about an hour and I'll tell you all at the same time."

Carter nodded adding, "OK, see you then." Then she jogged ahead to tell Mitchell and Teal'c.

Daniel sighed again; thinking about what the team would say about him having a daughter and about the meeting with his daughter that night was giving him a headache. The hour passed quicker than he would have liked. Teal'c arrived first with Mitchell and Sam a few minutes behind.

Teal'c was the first to speak, "You wished to meet with us Daniel Jackson."

Daniel spoke quickly and nervously, "Yes, about that. This might take a while so get comfortable. You know how I said that I had somewhere to go on Christmas." Daniel paused as they agreed. "I was meeting with a girlfriend from college that I recently ran into. Well, she told me" he paused to take a deep breath, "she told me that I have a daughter."

Carter and Mitchell looked dumbfounded. Whereas Teal'c merely arched an eyebrow. From the doorway they head a voice, "So Daniel has a daughter, interesting." Everybody turned to see O'Neill walk in.

"Jack what are you doing here?"

"Daniel most people say hi, how ya doing."

"Sorry, hi, what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to drop by and tell you bye, that I was headed back to the cesspool called Washington. So Danny has a daughter. How old is she, what's her name?"

"She is 16 and her name is Danielle. I'm supposed to meet them tonight at 6:00 at Pizza Hut."

"Wow, no wonder you have been acting weird, you've had a lot on your mind" Sam said.

"So Pizza Hut, how many of you want pizza for supper, my treat!" offered O'Neill.

"Jack, don't," Daniel asked or begged, no one knew the difference any more.

"Come on Daniel, we'll be your back-up in case your kid turns out to be just like you and goes off on some tangent. Teal'c, you and Mitchell meet at Sam's house at 6:00. That way Daniel can have a few minutes before we come to rescue him."

With that Jack left followed by the rest of the team. Sometimes Daniel wondered what he had done to be burdened with Jack O'Neill. Hopefully, he would not ruin this meeting, plus Daniel was sure Jack was only trying to help.

Before long, it was time to leave to meet Juliette and Danielle. Daniel didn't think he had ever been this nervous, ever! Oh, well time to suck it up and get on with it. After about 20 minutes into the meeting the rest of SG-1 came in and sat close to Daniel, but not too close. They watched him, but everything seemed to go well.

While Daniel paid, SG-1 finished and followed him out leaving time for Juliette and Danielle to leave. They caught up with him in the parking lot. All of the team looked at Daniel expectantly.

"What?" he exclaimed! Jack looked like he was about to burst, "How did it go?" he about yelled.

Daniel had to laugh at his former CO. "Good, it went surprisingly well. Danielle seems to be sweet, smart, and very polite. She even called me dad, and taught me a song from Girl Scouts. We are supposed to meet on her territory, the mall, on Thursday."

Carter had a smirk on her face, "What's the song Daniel?" Daniel's face visibly reddened, and Jack got interested.

"Come on Daniel, tell us."

"All right, NO laughing! McDonalds, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut." Along with the song he did the motions, a M was formed with the hands twice, then for KFC he made chicken wings, and to top it all off he made a roof over his head for Pizza Hut.

The team could not help but laugh. Finally, Mitchell said, "I've got to get going, wonderful acting Jackson, and nice to see you again General O'Neill. " With that he left.

The remaining members of SG-1 visited with each other for a little while longer before they all left for their homes.


	8. Mall Madness

Thanks to all who have been reading, and bigger thanks to all who review! This is my favorate chapter! There are only two more chapters left and I will try to get them out soon!

Danielle Jackson and her best friend Brittany Shults were shopping in their favorite store, Abercrombie.

"Ok, so tell me again, exactly why I am here, not that I have any objections to shopping mind you."

"Moral support. I am supposed to meet my dad at the food court at 12:00, and I wanted backup in case he tries to kidnap me and sell me to aliens for exploitation or to Area 51."

"You are whacked. No more Sci-fi channel for you!"

"It is just part of my charm," Dani returned smiling.

"This thing with your dad has got to be so weird, meeting him after all these years." Britt picked up a pink and black hoodie. "What do you think of this hoodie?"

"It is cute, but try the all black one. This thing with my dad is not so weird. All these years mom has told me about him, and showed me pictures, and even had me call him dad, so it is not too weird." Dani stood still a second thinking then laughing said, "I think he is more freaked out by all of this than I am." Dani picked up two really cute shirts and handed them to Britt. "Try these on. I've got two like them. Then we can do the matching thing."

Britt went into the dressing room to try them on while Dani looked at more clothes. From inside the dressing room Britt asked, "So what's this dad of yours like, and do you like him?"

"He is kinda nerdy. I think he is like really smart. I guess that runs in the family, so thank you dad. He works as a civilian consultant for the Air Force. He's got the same eyes and hair as I do, he seems ok though. He said he would help me with my homework. Maybe I can talk him into doing it for me. So how do the shirts look?"

Britt walked out with one of the shirts on. "I like this one. The other made me look like I was expecting. So all in all daddy is cool?"

Dani was still trying not to burst out laughing about the expecting comment. "Think so." She looked at her watch, it was later than she had thought. "Hurry up and change or else we'll be late. Oh, that shirt looks good. You should get it."

It only took Britt a few more minutes to change back. As she came out of the dressing room she announced, "OK, I'm ready. Let's get this show on the road, and before you ask about the shirt I'm going to get mom to came back and get it with some other stuff."

Dani shrugged, it sounded good to her. As they made their way towards the food court Britt continued to ask questions about Daniel till she was convinced that he was a good person. They stood at the end of the food court looking for Daniel, at least Dani was. Britt was looking for hot guys, she had already found three to her liking.

"Oh, hot guy alert! He is standing in front of Diary Queen," Britt said nudging her friend.

When Dani turned to look at the "hot" guy she saw it was Daniel! She bit back a laugh, "Congratulations, you just called my dad hot."

"THAT'S your dad?" Britt squealed. "I thought you said that he was sort of geeky."

"He is Britt, or was. Whatever. Ok at Pizza Hut he had glasses, he was nervous as all get out, and it was dim inside."

When Daniel saw Danielle approach his first thought was, "good she didn't ditch me," then "Hi Danielle, how are you doing?"

"Please, Dani. I'm doing good. This is my friend Brittany Shults, aka Britt. I hope you don't mind that I asked her to come, plus she thinks you are hot. Both Britt and Daniel blushed, Britt whacked her.

Daniel quickly said, "I don't mind at all about your friend. I almost brought a few of my own. It is good to have friends who will back you up. So what do you girls want for lunch, my treat!"

Daniel got their lunches and somehow during the course of lunch the girls convinced Daniel to let them shop for him some "cool" new clothes. They had a blast! Daniel got some cool new clothes and Dani and Britt truly enjoyed his company. Plus Daniel bought them some clothes and got Britt that shirt she was going to get her mom to come back for. When it came time to leave Dani took Britt home.

Britt said, "Your dad is pretty cool and he got that top for me." Dani thought for a minute. "Yeah, he is pretty cool. You remember that lady who started yelling at us in some weird language, and dad started talking back. I will never forget the look on her face. It was priceless!"

Right then Dani realized that she actually liked her dad, and she might even love him.


	9. the end of life as you know it

Daniel was sitting in his lab trying to get some paperwork done, but he kept on thinking about Dani. He still could not believe that he actually had a daughter, and that they were getting along so well. It had been a little over a month ago when he first found out. They had met several times and Dani had even met the rest of the team. Juliette had told him later that Dani thought that he and Mitchell looked like brothers or something; he had wondered why she had called him Uncle Cam.

When she had met Jack, Daniel would have thought that she was _his_ daughter. They had hit if off. After introductions Jack told Dani to call him Uncle Jack because Daniel was, "The little brother I never wanted." That had sent Dani into a giggling fit.

Daniel was startled out of his thoughts when the phone rang. He answered it, "Daniel Jackson."

"Mr. Jackson," the voice started. "I am Dr. Barnett from Crockett Hospital. We have a Juliette Burns here, and you and Danielle Jackson are both listed as next-of-kin. You need to come as soon as possible. Ms. Jackson is already on her way."

Daniel did not know what to say. He felt as though his mind was numb, but he had the presence of mind to say, "I'm on my way." He hung up the phone and stood there trying to figure out what to do first. Well, he guessed he should tell Gen. Landry that he had to leave for a family emergency. He thought about calling Dani, but the hospital said they already contacted her. They probably had to have her pulled out of class. With that his mind came back into reality.

Daniel ran into Landry's office without even knocking. Mitchell was in there going over a report. Daniel did not even pause, "General I need to leave. Juliette, Dani's mom is in the hospital. They just called telling me to come quickly. That's never good. Please, General."

General Landry could see the sheer panic in Daniel's eyes. He pause a second before responding. "Take as much time as you need Dr. Jackson. Please keep us updated."

With that Daniel hurried out of the office. He was just about to the elevators when he heard a voice from behind him. It was Col. Mitchell. As Daniel got onto the elevator Mitchell came with him. Daniel was about to ask why he followed him when Mitchell began, "Would you like for me or any of the team to come with you to the hospital? We would not mind."

Daniel wondered why the elevator was so slow. Then he turned to Mitchell. "No, thanks, but as soon as I find anything out I will call you. Thank you for offering. It means a lot."

With that, the elevator stopped and Daniel was off like a rocket. Daniel arrived at the hospital in record time, and he hadn't even gotten a speeding ticket. He wondered if Landry had called ahead to warn them of a certain speeding archeologist.

He had just arrived at the nurse's station when Dani came bursting in. He could tell she had been crying. When she saw Daniel she ran straight to him. Through her tears she asked, "What happened?"

Daniel looked her straight in the eye, "I just got here myself. We can do this together, OK?"

Dani took a deep shuttering breath trying to calm herself down, "OK" she whispered.

They then turned to ask a nurse what was going on. When the nurse heard their names she asked them to sit down, and she would go and get Dr. Barnett. It had no even been a minute before the nurse returned with the doctor behind her. Before the doctor could even introduce himself Dani asked, "How is my mom?"

Dr. Barnett replied, "Come with me and we will discuss her condition. My name is Dr. Barnett.

They followed him to right outside a ER room. He halted them before they had a chance to go in. "Ms. Burns has suffered severe head trauma." Dani gasped and started crying again. "She is unconscious and is dying. There is nothing we can do for her. I'm very sorry. You both can go in now and say your good byes. Again, I'm sorry."

Daniel was just numb. Juliette had just come back into his life and now she was leaving. Not fair. His mind started to race. Maybe be could call the Tok'ra or maybe the Asguard. Then his mind snapped back into reality. His daughter needed him.

Together they slowly walked into the imposing room to Juliette's still form. Dani stepped up to the gurney, and picked up her mother's still hand. Dani tried to talk, but she was crying too hard. She stood there praying for God to give her the strength to be able to go on with life. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and said in a teary voice, "Mom, it's me Danielle. I love you so much. I'm sorry for all the bad things I did. Please know how much I love you." Dani could hardly get the last part out for the racking sobs.

She turned and just hugged Daniel the two of them stood that way and after a minute the alarm went off signaling Juliette's death. Father and daughter stood in each other's grasp each wondering, "Where do I go from here?"


	10. a new life

_This is the last chapter. I want to thank everybody who had read this story, and I still don't own Stargate or any of its characters._

The funeral for Juliette Burns was a small and moving one. SG-1 and Generals Landry & O'Neill all attended for Daniel and Dani, whom they had all grown to love as their own. After the funeral SG-1 and O'Neill went back to Dani's house with Daniel. Neighbors and church members provided them with enough food to feed everybody at the SGC.

Dani's grandmother had come from Tennessee for the funeral, and all of them had been staying in Dani's house. After arriving at the house from the funeral, both grandma and Dani went to their rooms while Daniel talked with his friends in the living room.

Everybody had gotten some food to eat. Jack had six different slices of pie. When Sam said something about it he said, "I like pie," and that was that. Sam began the conversation, "So Daniel, how is everything going?"

He paused for a second before answering, "I think I'm doing OK. Last night Dani, Mrs. Burns, and I met with Juliette's lawyer for the reading of the will. She left some money for her mom, the house to Dani, and she wants me to take care of Dani. We all talked it over and I'm going to move in here and try to make this all work. Mrs. Burns is leaving tomorrow, so…" Daniel trailed off.

"Wow, that's a lot to handle," was all Carter could think of to say.

"If you need help moving Teal'c can help with the big stuff and the rest of us will help with the rest." O'Neill volunteered.

"I would be happy to render my assistance Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said confirming Jack's idea.

Daniel still looked troubled and Jack who never skirted an issue came right out and said, "There's something wrong still. I can see it. What's up?"

Daniel sighed, "I don't know what to do about Dani and my job. You all know sometimes we are gone for weeks, heck I've even died several times. Who will be here for her? She does not deserve to be an orphan. I could resign from SG-1 and take desk duty, or quit all together. I just don't know what to do. I hate to admit it, but I love being on the front lines. I don't really want to quit."

They all sat there musing over the problem for a while then Teal'c spoke up, "The answer is simple Daniel Jackson." That got everybody's attention. "You simply bring Danielle with you to work." That did sound like the best solution. Daniel would be able to keep his place on SG-1 and Dani would not be worrying about where Daniel was all the time.

"Ya know Teal'c. I think that is a great idea! I am going to go and see if I can get started on getting her security clearance," O'Neill said getting up.

After looking around a few minutes Jack finally gave up and asked, "OK, where's the phone?" Everyone had to laugh at Jack's antics. Carter got up, "I'll help you find it Jack," and off they went.

Two days later Dani and Daniel were in front of Cheyenne Mountain preparing to go in. Daniel turned to Dani, "This is going to be better than your wildest dream," and with that they walked in together.

_ The End_

_I just want to thank all those who reviewed. They are Aynnilynn, Nightshae, Desert Blossom-by-the-Sea, Speaker4thesilent, Ccgig, Trintiystargazer, Scottiedog, Darth Ergo, and Kippling Coft. Thank ya'll very much! _


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